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How To Define Composer Caroline Shaw?

Her work inspires articles with headlines like “Is Caroline Shaw Really the Future of Music?” and “Caroline Shaw Is Firing on All Creative Cylinders” and “Caroline Shaw Is Making Classical Cool.” - The Daily Beast

Lessons In Creativity From Metallica

Thanks to a massive box set issued earlier this year for the 30th anniversary of Metallica’s squillion-selling self-titled 1991 album. It includes 14 versions of “Sad but True”—demos, rehearsal tapes, abandoned takes, live recordings—from the germinal itchings to the cosmic swagger of the final version. - The Atlantic

Phantom Restorer Strikes Again – “Repairs” Historic Church

While the mayor’s report this fall of a “masked restorer” had set off angry calls for an investigation to find the culprit, information that surfaced later both complicated the whodunit and emphasized just how long these errant interventions had been plaguing the country. - The New York Times

Bob I. Retires From Running Disney. Bob C. Takes Over

Bob Chapek must simultaneously steer Disney through a cataclysmic transformation while keeping it the world’s most powerful and recognizable entertainment company — despite incursions from powerful and deep-pocketed streaming competitors Netflix, Apple and Amazon. - Los Angeles Times

The Canadian English Dictionary Hasn’t Been Updated In Almost Two Decades – No New Words?

The entire Canadian Oxford research staff was laid off in 2008 due to declining sales, and responsibility for identifying our country's words was placed largely in the hands of researchers in the United States and Britain (though Canadian researchers continue to add Canadian influence). - CBC

An Abusive Violin Teacher Drove Me To Give Up. As An Adult I Learned To Love Playing Again

The experience of being confined in a tiny practice room with an emotionally and psychologically threatening adult is, alas, not rare for children learning musical instruments. The necessary intimacy of one-to-one lessons can be a joy or a peril. The same could not happen now. - The Guardian

Ben McFall, Strand Bookstore’s Heart And Soul, 73

McFall enjoyed duties and perks not given to any other Strand employee. For much of his tenure, he was the only person in charge of an entire section. Not only that, the fief he governed — the fiction shelves — provides the Strand with the core of its business in used books. - The New York Times

A Dance World Reckoning Of Liam Scarlett’s Death

The shock of Scarlett’s death has gone on causing wave upon wave of complex emotion across and beyond the dance world. Large parts of his career were effectively terminated in 2019-2020 by an ambiguous investigation. - Alastair MaCaulay

LA Gets A Flashy New Cultural Center For “Older People”

The pavilion, a futuristic, three-story trapezoid with a wood-paneled event center, sunken garden and rooftop terrace in the center of the city, will serve Koreatown, which is among the city’s densest and most diverse neighborhoods. - The New York Times

Machines Are Good At Reading Information. What Happens When They Read Emotion?

Since the start of the pandemic, more of our relationships depend on computer-mediated channels. Amid a churning ocean of online spats, toxic Slack messages, and infinite Zoom, could algorithms help us be nicer to each other? Can an app read our feelings better than we can? - Wired

Growth Industry: UK Vinyl Album Sales Increase For 14th Year

More than 5m vinyl albums have been bought in the UK over the past 12 months, up 8% on sales in 2020 and the 14th consecutive year of growth since 2007. By the end of the year, vinyl will have accounted for almost one in four album purchases – the highest proportion since 1990. - The Guardian

Remember Rebuses?

These picture/word puzzles, sort of like charades on paper, were very popular in the mid-20th century and even had a game show (Concentration) based on them. A.J. Jacobs offers an explanation, along with a history of the Great Rebus Craze of 1937. - Mental Floss

Why Historians Are Taking Video Games Seriously

 “The attention paid by the game developers and their historical consultants to details of both the actual and social geography of these urban settings produced one of the most authentic depictions of eighteenth-century life in popular culture”—far more historically accurate than Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. - Lapham's Quarterly

What’s The Point Of New Year’s Resolutions If Time Is Already Determined?

If all moments of time exist, does that mean that my staying in bed every morning in 2022 instead of going for a run exists, too? Are future events already “there” without me being able to do anything about them? - The Conversation

Why Obama-Era Pop Culture Seems So Dated Now

As millennials age into the solid middle of the culture here at the end of 2021, they’re getting to experience that disorienting slip with some of the most beloved pop culture of their youths, and most particularly the pop culture that was celebrated during the presidency of Barack Obama. - Vox

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